OCPA has launched the second phase of our Capital Campaign. To learn more about how
you can get involved click here.
It's the Spending Stupid: Read what's inside June's issue of Perspective.
Information on the 2008 Summer Speaker Series is coming soon
September 18th: OCPA dinner in Tulsa with Ed Meese
Please visit the events section of our website for more information.
|
|
|
Rescue kids from 'sinking ship'
By Brandon Dutcher
Another legislative session has come and gone, and again this year the education establishment was able to squash legislation that would have given
parents more school choices.
The New Hope Scholarship Act, which passed the Senate but not the GOP-controlled House, would have given a tax credit to Oklahomans who contribute to
organizations that provide private school scholarships for low-income children trapped in 13 failing public schools in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
During floor debate on the legislation, Sen. Constance Johnson, D-Oklahoma City, asked a rather astonishing question: "Why is it that we want to take
some of the kids out of the public schools and essentially leave the rest on the sinking ship?"
The obvious answer was provided by another Oklahoma City Democrat, Rep. Rebecca Hamilton, during floor debate the following month: "Do you put people
on the lifeboats (even if) you don't have enough lifeboats for everybody, or do you let them all drown?"
The answer is clear. You save as many human beings as you can. READ MORE!
|
Brandon Dutcher, OCPA Vice President for Policy |
|
Another OK court decision?
By Paul Jacob
Sometimes courts make the right decision. Really. It happens. But it didn't happen this past week in Oklahoma.
Oh, we should probably be glad it's not another petition with hundreds of thousands of voter signatures being tossed out. And no, it's not nearly as
crazy as that ruling allowing a man to photograph up the skirts of girls at the mall.
This week's decision by Oklahoma's highest court simply means that former State Senator Gene Stipe is entitled to an $84,000 a year state
pension.
Sitting Oklahoma legislators get paid $38,400 a year, so I wonder about a pension that pays a retired legislator more than twice what a working
legislator makes. That's fishy, no? READ MORE!
|
Gas Prices: A laughing matter?
By: Brett Magbee
Really successful comedians have to keep a pulse on the thinking of Americans. They realize that for
a joke to be genuinely funny it must be relevant. On May 2nd, Jay Leno of "The Tonight Show" picked on Democrats for their repeated opposition to oil
exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Leno's punchline: Democrats say drilling in ANWR wouldn't produce any oil for 10 years -- the
same
point they've been making for more than 10 years now. It is the type of humor that causes people to wince as they laugh, sort of like hitting your
funny bone unexpectedly. The odd thing is, so many of us seem resigned to this situation. But that may be about to change. READ MORE!
|
FaxLine Report
|
|
